Slog
News & ArtsMonday, February 8, 2010
Chow / ??!! / Teh Internets Who's Tried This Miracle Berry and Does It Actually Work?
Posted by Megan Seling on Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 11:58 AM
- via thinkgeek.com
They tried to market the miracle berry as a sweetener/diet supplement in the ’70s, so people could eat sweet things without all the calories but SUPPOSEDLY the sugar industry threw a fucking fit about it so it never got off the ground. (This is according to Wikipedia, anyway, which never lies.)
But this weekend I noticed Think Geek is selling Miracle Berry tablets for $15. You get 10 tablets in each package, and they recommend you use only half a tablet at a time, so there's 20 servings. And they claim it really does work:
Limes suddenly tasted like the sweetest, most perfect limeade ever. Oranges (already quite sweet) tasted like they were imported from an Alien world or plucked straight from the Garden of Eden (truly, words can't describe the life-altering sensations caused by these little tablets).
But of course they're going to say they work, they're trying to sell them. So who's tried these? Are they for real? Will they ruin my taste-buds? I bought some this morning. They won't kill me, will they? I guess we'll find out in 5-7 business days...
1
yes .
they're pretty amazing. i did the lime test and found it to taste like a jolly rancher.. a nice lime jolly rancher. i've heard that people get into it so much that they can get citrus burn if they're not careful
they're pretty amazing. i did the lime test and found it to taste like a jolly rancher.. a nice lime jolly rancher. i've heard that people get into it so much that they can get citrus burn if they're not careful
2
I saw these on a Food Network show 'Food Detectives' about a year ago, and they said they work quite well.
And Food Network never lies.
And Food Network never lies.
3
They definitely do work. Go ahead and buy them but some work better than others. I tried the tablets that were shipped frozen and relatively fresh. It worked pretty well but you have to get used to letting the berry sit on your tongue for a long time. Your initial reaction to swallow the juice will mess it up.
5
I've tried them. A couple co-workers bought them and brought in limes and lemons to work for people to try. Basically you coat your tongue with the supplement (by sucking on it...) and then eat something sour. By my observation it basically hides the sour flavor of whatever you're eating, which is why it generally doesn't make sweet things taste any different.
So anyway, at the end of the day it was a neat experiment, but not really that great unless an experiment is what you wanted.
So anyway, at the end of the day it was a neat experiment, but not really that great unless an experiment is what you wanted.
6
I don't know about the tablets but I know the actual berries work. It only works with bitter/sour foods, though, not with everything. Beer, sour cream, lemons, limes, rhubarb, etc. Forgot to try coffee or really strong cocoa powder, though. It's pretty weird, but awesome!
7
They're great, and do what they say they do (cheese tastes amazing with them). It's really frustrating that they're expensive and mail-order only. The package it comes it looks like something you'd buy at Uwajimaya - anyone have a line on a cheap Chinatown version?
8
I've tried them on several occasions, including the ones from ThinkGeek. They work as advertised, and have no long-term (or even medium-term) effect on your taste buds. In my experience, the ThinkGeek ones work for about 20 minutes of fooling around with lemons and limes and whatever else you can scrounge up.
One thing I've definitely noticed: there are big groups of food that aren't affected, chiefly meats, nuts, and cheeses. I think the key is that things that are acidic (fruits, wine, beer, coffee, condiments and sauces, etc) have the biggest change, and things that are low-acid have very little change.
Sweet things that are a little tart, like strawberries and kiwis, are just as lovely as sour things like lemons and limes. Things that are straight-sweet without any tartness, like milk chocolate, aren't really affected.
The best is cheap, crappy delivery pizza doused in hot sauce. I know this sounds like a horrible, disgusting waste of miracle fruit pills. It is not.
One thing I've definitely noticed: there are big groups of food that aren't affected, chiefly meats, nuts, and cheeses. I think the key is that things that are acidic (fruits, wine, beer, coffee, condiments and sauces, etc) have the biggest change, and things that are low-acid have very little change.
Sweet things that are a little tart, like strawberries and kiwis, are just as lovely as sour things like lemons and limes. Things that are straight-sweet without any tartness, like milk chocolate, aren't really affected.
The best is cheap, crappy delivery pizza doused in hot sauce. I know this sounds like a horrible, disgusting waste of miracle fruit pills. It is not.
10
Yup, pretty straightforward. You can grow the plant as a houseplant as well. My understanding is that they don't work well as a commercial sweetener due to extraction issues (as well as the fact that it makes _everything_ you eat taste sweet - you don't want your steak to taste sweet). As much as people go on about "the sugar industry", it's usually just people wanting to make their product sound snazzy.
12
I had these berries in biology class with lemon. It totally works, and it's fun! They do know how they work. There's a chemical in the berry which binds to one of your "sweet" taste bud receptors, changing its conformation so that sour compounds also activate it (so eating a sour food sends a sweet signal to your brain). They don't have any long term effect. The molecule does not stay bound to your taste buds. I had the berries and lemon in a class right before lunch, and my lunch tasted normal afterward.
13
Ack. Too sweet! It's a sugar coated he'll! I counted the minutes til sour and savory returned too my life.
15
They work but anyone who tells you they make so-and-so taste AMAZING is a trickster. They just make things taste WEIRD. It's fun to try them once with a group of friends and a bunch of different foods to sample. I don't want to try them again, especially since it's impossible to get the weird sweet taste out of your mouth until it wears off.
If you want something to make foods taste AMAZING, try pot. It works much better.
If you want something to make foods taste AMAZING, try pot. It works much better.
16
Yeah.. I've heard the pills work better than the frozen fruits. There's a good explanation of how they work in Adam Gollner's "Fruit Hunters," which is a fantastic book that everyone should read. Really, one of the best nonfiction books I read in 2008, one of those random books that takes a topic you didn't know you cared about (obscure fruit) and makes it utterly spellbinding.
18
Yes they work. I got them from a slovenian company called Miracle Frooties, and they were a little cheaper.
I did it as a christmas gift for my whole family- covered the table in all sorts of food, and got them all to take a little pill. I was like Jim Jones, I guess.
People with a "sweet tooth" like it. I don't have so much of a thing for sweets, so it wasn't really mind-bowing.
Don't take fluids like coffee. It's wash it off the tongue and ruin the effect. Wine tastes gross. Citruses are good. Plain yogourt, salt-and-vinegar chips. Tabasco sauce- I licked it off a plate.
I did it as a christmas gift for my whole family- covered the table in all sorts of food, and got them all to take a little pill. I was like Jim Jones, I guess.
People with a "sweet tooth" like it. I don't have so much of a thing for sweets, so it wasn't really mind-bowing.
Don't take fluids like coffee. It's wash it off the tongue and ruin the effect. Wine tastes gross. Citruses are good. Plain yogourt, salt-and-vinegar chips. Tabasco sauce- I licked it off a plate.
19
Um...am I the only one who's mind went straight to: "Mmm, I wonder what oral sex would be like with these?"
25
I tried the ones in the photo and as everyone else says, they do work. However, I don't think they would work as a substitute for sugar - if you have a sweet tooth, this isn't going to satisfy those cravings. It's novel and entertaining, but not particularly functional.
As for the oral sex question, my understanding is that the berry works best on foods that are highly acidic - much more so than any bodily fluids associated with sex.
Still worth a shot, though. ;)
As for the oral sex question, my understanding is that the berry works best on foods that are highly acidic - much more so than any bodily fluids associated with sex.
Still worth a shot, though. ;)
26
They work as advertised - things that are acidic and tart taste smooth and sweet instead. Lime juice, lemon juice, cranberries, balsamic vinegar, plain yogurt were all wonderfully novel. But eating a green olive was just weird and blah.
28
Thinkgeek.com is awesome. @18 I don't about you but I would never put anything in my mouth called a FROOTIE otherwise you might end up like @4. From past experiences I've learned you get what you paid for and by the way isn't Slovenia in the middle east, I say no to funding terrorist.
29
Heh, heh, so I can actually attest to the oral side of this, at least with regards to woman on man. The bf and I went to Honduras this summer and they have this awesome plant sanctuary that has just about every plant imaginable. They gave us some of the berries and, of course, when we got to the hotel oral was the first thing we tried. No change, I'm sad to report. The local name for it is something like 'the deadening fruit' because there is NO taste but sweet. It did get old after a while but limes were yummy! You can feel the acid on your tongue but you can't taste it. It's a trip.
30
I have tried these before, and yes they are fun. I like apple cider vinegar anyway, but with these it tastes fantastic.
I have one or two left. I'll try to answer the cunnilingus question tonight and get back with you all.
I have one or two left. I'll try to answer the cunnilingus question tonight and get back with you all.
31
@28 says "isn't Slovenia in the middle east, I say no to funding terrorist".
Good work, Sherlock, you've really got that sorted. (Hint: Slovenia is on the freaking Adriatic Sea. No? Nothing? The Alps? Really? Hmm. Borders Italy? Surely you've heard of Italy?)
Good work, Sherlock, you've really got that sorted. (Hint: Slovenia is on the freaking Adriatic Sea. No? Nothing? The Alps? Really? Hmm. Borders Italy? Surely you've heard of Italy?)
34
As @8 and others said, only acidic things like lemons, limes and hot sauce change taste. I tried a sugarless citrus cupcake recipe with plain goat cheese frosting that was supposed to be bad without the tablet and heavenly with it. Meh. Instead, compare the tastes of a good wine and a bad tequila, before and after the tablet. And yes, chew the tablet and swish it around in your mouth without swallowing for at least a full minute. When the wine tastes good again, the show's over.
35
don't try chugging vinegar... it isnt strong enough for that. sipping is fine but chugging vinegar is still bad. Oh and some people say they change bitter things as well and I don't think that seemed to work, just sour/tart
37
I've done them. It made things taste sweeter for me.. but more like as if you poured nutrisweet on things. not like awesome sweet, like kind of off tasting sweet. My girlfriend tried a ton of stuff and felt horrible the next day. i think she tried too much citrus things?
38
They work. I haven't had a chance to try them yet. Several months ago there was a Yelp event (that I wasn't able to attend) featuring miracle berries. http://bit.ly/b6480Y
39
Miracle Frooties are, as all other Miracle Fruit tablets, made in Taiwan and packaged in the US, I received mine from Michigan and that's where the company is from....
40
I've tried the Miracle Frooties a few times. My Mom's diabetic and uses them a lot. LiamJohnO - did you get them from www.theworldsbestfruit.com ? That's where Mom gets them. I've also tried the fresh berry - it's not as strong, but better for a party...it's a pain trying to explain to people why they should suck on a tablet that's going to make weird things happen to their taste senses. Just my opinion.
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Hating People Doesn't Make Them Thinner by Jen Graves
-
Los Angeles Gay Bar Bans Bachelorette Parties Until Marriage Equality Is Attained by David Schmader
-
Fill in the Blank by Grant Brissey
-
This Reminds Me of the Great Calculator Scare of the Late '70s/Early '80s by David Schmader
-
Idiot Tries to Defend Bigoted Anti-Gay-Marriage Preacher on Anderson Cooper by Paul Constant
-
Six Moms with Too Much Time on Their Hands and a Shitty Website Decide to Fight Gay Superheroes by Paul Constant
-
What the Hell Is Wrong With Seattle's Pride Parade? by Dominic Holden
-
The Saturday Morning News by Unpaid Intern
-
Why Mayor McGinn's Wife Canceled Her Family's Seattle Times Subscription by Eli Sanders
-
NYC Man Ticketed for Not Riding in the Bike Lane by Jonathan Golob
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (40) RSS